Georgia’s attorney general has requested a Department of Justice investigation into the handling of the case surrounding Ahmaud Arbery’s killing.
“We are committed to a complete and transparent review of how the Ahmaud Arbery case was handled from the outset,” Attorney General Chris Carr said in a statement on Sunday. “The family, the community and the state of Georgia deserve answers, and we will work with others in law enforcement at the state and federal level to find those answers.”
Arbery, a 25-year-old unarmed black man, was fatally shot after he was confronted by Gregory McMichael and his son Travis McMichael during a jog in February. The McMichaels claimed at the time they were trying to conduct a citizen’s arrest because they believed Arbery was the suspect in a series of robberies in the area. However, the father and son were arrested and charged with murder last week after footage of the shooting surfaced.
Two local commissioners on Friday accused District Attorney Jackie Johnson of barring the Glynn County Police Department from making the arrests immediately following the shooting. According to them, police at the scene “were ready to arrest” the McMichaels, but Johnson called them off before recusing herself from the case because the elder McMichael used to work in her office.
Another prosecutor was also recused due to potential conflicts of interest before the case was taken up by District Attorney Thomas Durden.
The video of the incident sparked nationwide outrage and prompted Georgia politicians to call for justice and President Trump to express concern over the situation. Carr is asking the DOJ to look into “communications and discussions by and between the Office of the District Attorney of the Brunswick Judicial Circuit and the Office of the District Attorney of the Waycross Judicial Circuit related to this case.”
